Super Eagles striker Onuachu contracts COVID-19

Nigerian striker Paul Onuachu has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19).

Onuachu, 26, becomes the first Super Eagles star to test positive for the virus that has caused sporting events cancellations and suspensions across the globe.

His compatriots Stephen Odey and Cyril Dessers at Belgian club Genk, tested negative for the virus.

“In the run-up to the first exhibition game of the season, the entire Genk group was tested yesterday (Tuesday),” a report on Belgian website hln.be stated.

“Everyone tested negative except Onuachu.”

The 6ft7in striker left Belgium for Nigeria on May 27, alongside fellow Eagles strikers Victor Osimhen and Imoh Ezekiel and returned to his club June 28 after he was stranded for a week in Lagos due to travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

He is also the second Nigerian footballer to contract the virus after Akpan Udoh, the first footballer to be infected, in February.

According to hln.be, Onuachu will miss Genk’s first exhibition game of the season against Eendracht Termien on Thursday (today) as he will be quarantined for a week.

Onuachu’s COVID-19 status has however raised concerns within the Genk squad as he had trained intensively with the rest of the squad for more than a week now.

Onuachu joined Genk from Danish club FC Midtjylland last summer and scored 10 goals for the club before the Belgian Pro Division season was ended abruptly due to COVID-19 with Club Brugge crowned champions.